With Brady, the Patriots are still football's best team

By Rick Gosselin
The Dallas Morning News

The New England Patriots failed in their quest to become the greatest team in NFL history in 2007. But coronation as the greatest dynasty in league history is still within their grasp.

New England's march toward perfection ended 36 seconds short caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to propel the New York Giants to an electrifying 17-14 upset win over the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

New England became only the third NFL team to win a combined 18 games in the regular season and postseason. The 1984 San Francisco 49ers and 1985 Chicago Bears also finished 18-1, but the Patriots were the only one of the three not to win an NFL championship.

But that loss can become a mere speed bump in the sprint to greatness by the Patriots. A return to the Super Bowl this season would give the Patriots an NFL record-tying five Super Bowl appearances in one decade. A victory there would give them a record-tying four Super Bowl titles in one decade.

And the Patriots would still have 2009 to claim both marks outright. The Cowboys of the 1970s appeared in five Super Bowls; the Steelers of the 1970s and 49ers of the 1980s won four Super Bowls in a decade.

On paper, the Patriots are the best team in the NFL because they have the best quarterback - 31-year-old Tom Brady.

Only two quarterbacks in NFL history have won four Super Bowls - Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana. Bradshaw passed for a career-best 3,724 yards when he was 31; Montana threw a career-best 31 touchdowns when he was 31.

If Brady turns in his best season at 31, you can commission his bust for Canton - if it already isn't in the works.

Last season, Brady had the greatest season of any other quarterback in NFL history, passing for an NFL-record 50 touchdowns and a franchise-record 4,806 yards at the age of 30, as the Patriots set a league scoring record with 589 points.

Brady has the best pass catcher in the game in Wes Welker (NFL-leading 112 receptions in 2007), the best playmaker in Randy Moss (NFL-record 23 TD receptions in 2007) and the best coach in the game in Bill Belichick.

The Patriots also return seven of their eight Pro Bowlers. The only absentee is cornerback Asante Samuel, who left for the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency.

New England took its annual off-season hit, losing six players who started a combined 51 games. But only two started in the Super Bowl - Samuel and second tight end Kyle Brady.

The Patriots remain a deep, talented and accomplished team. They defeated all three AFC division winners in 2007 - Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and San Diego (twice).

New England also defeated the Cowboys, the top-seeded team in the NFC playoff bracket. Victories over the Colts and Cowboys, the second- and third-best teams in the NFL, came on the road.

So don't expect New England to fall off the cliff because of that Super Bowl loss. The Patriots play a softer schedule this season, with intraconference games against the AFC West and interconference games vs. the NFC West. That puts Arizona, Denver, Oakland, Kansas City, St. Louis and San Francisco on New England's docket.

The Patriots also benefit from playing in the marshmallow-soft AFC East, which means six games - and six victories - against Buffalo, Miami and the New York Jets. The other four games - Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle - will determine whether New England is the first or second seed in the AFC playoffs. The NFL has scheduled three of those games for prime time.

Losing Samuel was a blow, but New England is banking on two draft picks to fill the void, second-rounder Terrence Wheatley and fourth-rounder Jonathan Wilhite. The Patriots also should be better with the addition of Tennessee's Jerod Mayo, selected with the 10th overall pick of the 2008 draft. He brings young legs to an aging linebacking corps.

Had the Patriots held on to win Super Bowl XLII, everyone would be picking them to repeat in 2008. Thirty-six seconds hasn't changed my opinion of them. This season, I look for New England to win its fourth Super Bowl.

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